Contest Update Issues

Contester's Rate Sheet for November 15, 2006

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CONTESTER'S RATE SHEET
15 November 2006
Edited by Ward Silver N0AX
Published by the American Radio Relay League
Free to ARRL members - tell your friends!
(Subscription info at the end of newsletter)
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SUMMARY
o Phone Band Phollies - Phone Sweepstakes
o Worldwide Morsematism - CQ WW Code
o The Gorillapod
o Tips for Phone Contesting
o IOTA 2006 Results Published
o K3LR on PL259 Soldering
o NIST Time and Frequency Services Publication
o Cabrillo - Version 3 Cometh
BULLETINS
o The Rate Sheet would like to remind all Topband contesters that in
the upcoming ARRL 160 Meter contest, DX stations ARE allowed to work
stations outside the continental US if the station is sending an ARRL
or RAC section abbreviation as part of the exchange. These stations
may be contacted for QSO Point credit by DX! This includes KH6
(PAC), KL7 (AK), KP4 (PR), and KP2 (VI) stations. Make sure your
software treats these stations correctly and spread the word outside
the US and VE. Thank you!
BUSTED QSOS
o The KY QSO Party had the right dates but was printed in the wrong
section of the summary - apologies.
CONTEST SUMMARY (Rules follow Commentary section)
November 18-19
- ARRL Sweepstakes, Phone
- North American Collegiate ARC Championship, Phone
- LZ DX Contest
- RSGB 1.8 MHz Contest, CW
- PSK63 QSO Party
November 25-26
- CQ Worldwide, CW
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NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST
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Fans of Art Collins and everyone interested in radio history will
enjoy the online article "Arthur A. Collins - A Hero Among Hams" from
Electronic Design. It's short, but packed full of information about
Art's achievements and the history of his company, Collins Radio.
You can read it by browsing to http://www.elecdesign.com/ and entering
13670 into the "Enter ED Online ID", then click "GO".
A friend sent me a clipping from the newspaper with a short story
about the Gorillapod - a flexible tripod that will hold a camera on
just about any surface or structure. Made by Joby
(http://www.joby.com/), the Gorillapod looked like something with
workshop, garage, and antenna farm applications, as well. At the
least, it's a Neat Thing!
We all hope for that CE0Z multiplier, but rarely get it. Why not
read about it, instead? I read "Selkirk's Island" by Diana Souhami
over the summer and really enjoyed the tale of the real-life Robinson
Crusoe. Just the thing while you're waiting for the bands to open!
Speaking of odd call signs, during 2007 Mexico's FMRE will celebrate
its 75th anniversary and XE stations will use new prefixes 6E through
6J. Make sure your CTY files are up to date! (Thanks, Pepe XE2MX and
Dennis N6KI)
Jim AD1C report that his Cabrillo Contest Converter
(http://software.ad1c.us/#Cabrillo) now makes files in CT's native
.BIN format.
If you are getting ready for Phone Sweepstakes this weekend and want
to minimize repeats and fills, think about how you will sound when
giving the number, check, and section. In the QRM and QRN, "fifty"
and "sixty" sound an awful lot alike and there are many other
combinations that aren't clear or easy to confuse. Why not say the
individual digits and leave no doubt? "Seven Six Five" is a lot
clearer than "Seven sixty-five," for example. The same goes for
checks. Sections are another opportunity for errors to creep in.
Was that Sacramento Valley or Santa Clara Valley? Try "Sugar Victor"
or "Sugar Charlie Victor" to get it across the first time. You'll
find that by using phonetics and saying each digit separately, you'll
save time with fewer repeats and you can maintain a rhythm. (Thanks,
Marc W6ZZZ)
One more tip for phone contesting - before responding and giving the
contest exchange, breathe in. Then say the whole exchange in one
long exhalation. Do not add extra words like "Please copy" or "Your
number is" or "Check," "Uh," and "And." They are just time and
breath wasters. Listen to the top operators when you tune by them.
The key to sounding like a pro is efficiency and rhythm, giving the
information in the expected order, enunciated clearly for easy copy.
Dave K6LL has found an "RF bulletproof" cordless phone; the Uniden
Model EXP 970, available at Walmart for under $10. He also thinks
that the Radioshack phone, Model ET-296 series, catalog # 43-874
(white) is similar to the discontinued, but RF resistant, model
43-591.
Here's a good way to spend a few minutes of Web surfing - the
Internet Archive Wayback Machine at
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php is a cache of Web pages dating
back to 1996! Wow - ten years of the 'net! That embarrassing photo
of you asleep at the radio? It's still out there for all of us to
enjoy! (Thanks, Jack WA0RJY)
URL of the Week - Every so often you stumble on a little Web treasure
chest of goodies. This week's trove is brought to you by Tim EI8IC
who tips us off to
http://home.hccnet.nl/s.j.francke/software/software.htm. This site is
full of useful freeware utilities, particularly CSVed for editing
files in the popular CSV format. (CSV stands for "Comma Separated
Values" and is used by logging and spreadsheet programs.)
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RESULTS AND RECORDS
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ARRL Contest Results
Field Day and June VHF Results columns have been posted to the Web.
An update the Contest FAQ for the Web is being planned. And the Logs
Received and Claimed Scores for the 2006 ARRL 10 GHz and Up Contest
are now online at: http://www.arrl.org/contests/claimed/ (Thanks, Tom
KC1J)
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The results for the 2006 IOTA contest are now posted at:
http://www.iotacontest.com/contest/iota/2006/finalScore.php This
year saw the highest number of submitted logs, well over 1500 in
total, despite being at the bottom of the sunspot cycle. There are
more than 203 pictures submitted by entrants. The contest database
will, in due course, be linked to the New Generation IOTA Software
(coming next year), to allow validated contest QSOs to be used as
credit towards IOTA awards. (Thanks, Contest Manager Don G3XTT and
the IOTA Contest Team)
The results of the 2005 LZ DX Contest have been published at:
http://bg.bfra.org/lzdx/2005 (Thanks, Nasko LZ3YY)
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TECHNICAL TIPS AND INFORMATION
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Tim K3LR is famous not only for having one of the best stations in
the world, but for his attention to detail which extends to the care
with which coax connectors are attached. In a station with hundreds
of PL-259 connectors, how does he make time to do a good job? Here's
Tim's process:
"Use silver-plated connectors that say "Made in USA" on the shell.
Take a fully assembled (shell + body) connector and measure the
connector against the RG8 (or similar) coax. Take the outer covering
of the coax off with a sharp knife. Pull the braid back all the way
by fanning it out. Wrap 3 to 4 turns of Scotch 88 black tape around
the center conductor. Trim the dielectric up against the fanned out
braid. Use wire strippers and remove the remaining dielectric from
the center conductor. Install the fully assembled PL259 (meaning WITH
the shell on the connector body - Ed.) onto the center conductor and
over the tape. The back of the PL259 body should rest on the fanned
out shield. Solder the center conductor. Trim the exposed shield to
1/4" long and fold over the back of the PL259. Solder the shield all
the way around the back of the PL259 body. While the back is still
hot wrap 2 turns of 88 tape around the soldered shield to seal it
good. The shield is well soldered for 360 degrees around the
connector with no chance that the dielectric is melted."
When purchasing ferrite beads and cores for RFI suppression, the
question often arises as to what mix is best. Jim K9YC tested
several of the popular mixes for the one that has the most resistive
(loss) characteristics over the HF frequency range. "The #31 mix has
significantly higher R below about 5 MHz than the #43 mix, but is
nearly equal to the #43 mix up to about 50 MHz. So above 7 MHz, it
doesn't matter whether you use #31 or #43 - they are equally
effective. But if you need suppression on 160 or 80, the #31 mix is
greatly superior."
Rick N1RL supplements the previous issue's advice on relay problems
with the general suggestion to "...rule out all other possible causes
external to the radio first: check out the antenna system (ie, put
the radio on an antenna you KNOW has no problems - even something
makeshift - or see if it only occurs with one antenna) and take any
linears and antenna switches out of the path."
The Electronic Research Group Web site features "SMD Soldering Tools
and Technique" (http://www.zianet.com/erg/SMT_Soldering.html), a good
set of instructions and close-up photos. Worth a look if you plan on
doing any building or repair with SMT (Surface Mount Technology)
parts. (Thanks, Carter N3AO)
What is the most common piece of equipment in the ham shack? Wrong!
It's the ubiquitous "wall wart" transformer. (If it's not the most
popular, it's not far from it.) To learn more about these oft-used,
little-investigated accessories, download "A Dummies' Guide to
Working with Wall Warts" (http://tinyurl.com/unmk9) by John Bryant.
(Thanks, Charlie WA2ONH)
Here's how to make a surplus CD into a nice reduction drive dial.
Mount the CD on the panel so that it rotates freely. Take an old
panel-mount potentiometer apart and remove the stop so the shaft
spins 360 degrees. Slip a rubber grommet over the shaft then mount
the pot so that the edge of the CD fits in the groove in the grommet.
The resulting friction drive has an approximately 12:1 ratio,
depending on the grommet's diameter. Take a look at some samples at
http://tinyurl.com/yycyg9 and http://tinyurl.com/y7t7o4. (Thanks,
John KU4AF)
If you'd like to experiment with Phase-Locked Loops but the whole
prospect seems daunting, give the National Semiconductor Webench site
a try. Webench (http://tinyurl.com/t2fyy) is a free design aid that
can help you pick parts or experiment with simulations. Once
acquainted with the basic concepts, you can tinker with the
simulations to really get a feel for the fundamentals.
Steve Weber KD1JV has plans for a 600 Hz resonant speaker on his site
(http://kd1jv.qrpradio.com/resonatespkr/cwspkr.html) that removes
high frequency hiss and acts as a passive AF filter. (Thanks, RC
KC5WA)
Just in time for the W1AW Frequency Measuring Test
(http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/fmt) the NIST Special Publication 432,
"NIST Time and Frequency Services", 2002 Edition is available for
download at http://tf.nist.gov/timefreq/general/pdf/1383.pdf The
section titled "Geophysical Alerts" describes in non-physicist terms
what this is all about. As a bonus, there is also a nice picture of
the WWVB transmitters. (Thanks, Roy K1LKY)
Randy WX5L recommends the "ISOBAR" power strip made by Tripp-Lite Co.
for RFI suppression. The strips are available with up to 75 dB of RF
attenuation. This may help a neighbor or with equipment for which
the usual ferrite cores or bypass capacitors can't be used.
Bergen Cable offers some handy "Cable 101"-style information at
http://tinyurl.com/y8xzlo. Good reading for next year's antenna
projects. (Thanks, Norm AI2C)
Check out Rick N6RK's Web site (http://www.n6rk.com/) for information
on using irrigation pipe for verticals and vertical arrays. This
material is often available as agricultural surplus in farming areas.
(Thanks, Terry KK6T)
Want to get your SO2R skills honed for the real thing? Turn the
computer speaker on and practice copying calls from a code training
program such as Morse Runner (http://www.dxatlas.com/MorseRunner)
while tuning a radio and copying calls in your head. (Thanks, Tom
W7WHY)
Electronic Design magazine's "Ideas for Design" section often
features circuits that would be handy around the ham shack. The 26
October issue has a nifty over- and under-voltage protector that
might be useful for sensitive (or expensive) equipment. Enter
"13788" in the "Enter ED Online ID" window at
http://www.elecdesign.com/ to see the full article.
TECHNICAL URL OF THE WEEK -- Before the days of digital frequency
meters and phase-locked loops, Lissajous figures were used to
determine the frequencies of sounds or radio signals. Plus, they're
groovy to stare at, man! Here are some Web sites about these
interesting figures:
http://www.math.com/students/wonders/lissajous/lissajous.htmlhttp://perso.orange.fr/olivier.granier/meca/simul/lisajou/simul.htmlhttp://www.ngsir.netfirms.com/englishhtm/Lissajous.htm
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CONVERSATION
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No responding prose was received from PVRC in response to the NCCC
offering in the last issue, so I declare NCCC the winner in the first
annual "Highbrow Smartypants Trashtalking" competition!
Cabrillo - Version 3 Cometh
In the beginning, there were paper log sheets and paper summary
sheets and it was a pain. Fingers hurt, handwriting was poor, and
the dog sometimes ate the paperwork - although not quite as often as
blamed. Thus of necessity was computer logging begat and there were
diskettes and it was a pain. Diskettes covered the desk like
locusts, file names were as babble, and the postman sometimes ate the
diskettes - although not as frequently as claimed. Thence came email
and it was a pain. File formats were without number, encoding and
attachments spoke in tongues, and the contest sponsors sometimes ate
logs for dinner - although rarely to the extent imagined or wished.
Then came Cabrillo 1.0 and confusion was upon the land. Was it a
format, a method, or what? Robots were created and sent to guard the
Inboxes of the contest sponsors, passing no file that smelt too
strongly of non-Cabrillo-ness. And there was a gnashing of teeth and
rending of garments as software author and user alike made haste to
achieve full compliance lest their scores not be tallied with the
rest in the Final Results.
And Cabrillo 2.0 came forth and there was a little less gnashing and
rending and the process became less onerous and the robots smote
fewer and fewer logs with each passing contest. And there was a great
yearning - for more contests and for more categories and for greater
variation than had hitherto been permitted. The scribes of Cabrillo
did mutter and did think and did release version 3.0. And thus begins
our tale.
As anyone that deals with lots of contest knows, there are lots and
lots of different definitions for any of the categories and
vocabulary used to describe an entry. Some contests distinguish
between single-op assisted and unassisted while others separate the
same logs into single-op and multi-op. For any contest with more
than a handful of categories, entrants often have no idea what their
true category really is. Some entrants really don't care - they are
just having a good time and sending in a log to note their
participation and provide more information to the sponsors.
What Cabrillo 3.0 does is to allow entrants to simply pick the
"adjectives", if you will, that describe how they operated and the
contest sponsors can then determine the proper category for the
entry. Cabrillo adjectives are recognized values for the various
types of information or "tags" that characterize an operation. The
version 2.0 tag "CATEGORY:" is dropped in favor of a basket of
finer-grained distinctions. For example, for the tag
"CATEGORY-ASSISTED", there are two recognized values (or adjectives):
ASSISTED and NON-ASSISTED. For the tag "CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER",
recognized values include ONE, TWO, UNLIMITED, and SWL. This avoids
the inevitable conflicts between competing definitions of categories
in different contests.
Here is an example of how this works: An ARRL 10 Meter Contest
operation done mobile by two operators taking turns at the rig, low
power, one radio, no assistance, phone only would describe their
operation this way:
CATEGORY-ASSISTED: NON-ASSISTED
CATEGORY-BAND: 10M
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: MULTI-OP
CATEGORY-MODE: SSB
CATEGORY-POWER: LOW
CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: ONE
CATEGORY-STATION: MOBILE
For awards purposes, the entry category will be considered as
"Multioperator, Single Transmitter, Mixed Mode." The extra
information - Low Power, Mobile, SSB - can then be included for
comparison to other similar operations.
There is an interesting side-effect to including information beyond
that required for a specific contest: the extra information can be
included with on-line scores. For example, SO2R may not be a formal
category, but the entry can include the tags and values
"CATEGORY-OPERATOR: SINGLE-OP" and "CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: TWO". The
sponsor will list the score in the SO category, but may choose to
append "two-transmitter" to the score. If the extra information is
simply copied from the Cabrillo file so that the format is
consistent, then on-line information can be downloaded and analyzed
by third-parties...that means YOU! It makes "Contests Within A
Contest" a lot easier, as well, and frees the sponsor from having to
create ever more categories.
Another similar change in Cabrillo 3.0 is that there is now a general
"LOCATION:" tag. Recognized values for the tag are defined by the
contest sponsors and not maintained in the Cabrillo specification.
ARRL contests will use this tag to report scores by ARRL sections.
Other contest sponsors can define their own values for this tag.
Do you have to upgrade your contest software? Nope, although authors
of contest logging software will be adding the version 3.0 tags and
values to their programs. Version 3.0 also has a new tag called
"DEBUG:" that allows software authors to test their Cabrillo
generation routines by sending logs to a real log-handling robot.
When is this going to happen? Um, it's already happening! The CQ WW
SSB, California QSO Party, and several other log-handling robots are
already compliant with version 3.0. In fact, they convert version
2.0 logs to version 3.0 automagically. You didn't even notice, did
you?
Would you like to know more about Cabrillo 3.0? Take a look at
author N5KO's discussions at http://www.kkn.net/~trey/cabrillo where
the actual format description lives along with templates and
recommendations. This is how it's supposed to work. Can you imagine
going back to the Good Old Days? And the log sheets were as leaves
in the forest and the aspirins as grains of sand...
73, Ward N0AX
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CONTESTS -- 15 NOVEMBER TO 28 NOVEMBER 2006
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Note that the following abbreviations are used to condense the
contest rules summaries: SO - Single-Op; M2 - Multi-Op - 2
Transmitters; MO - Multi-Op; MS - Multi-Op, Single Transmitter; MM -
Multi-Op, Multiple Transmitters; AB - All Band; SB - Single Band;
S/P/C - State/Province/DXCC Entity; HP - High Power (>100 W); LP -
Low Power; QRP (5W or less)
HF CONTESTS
ARRL November Sweepstakes--Phone, from 2100Z Nov 18 - 0300Z Nov 20.
Frequencies: 160 - 10 meters, work stations only once. Categories:
SOAB-LP (A), HP (B), QRP (Q), SO-Unlimited (U), MS (M), School Club
(S). Exchange: Serial number, Category (precedence), Call, Check
(last two digits of first year licensed), and ARRL section. QSO
Points: 2 pts/QSO. Score: QSO points x sections (counted only once).
For more information: http://www.arrl.org/contests Logs due 20 Dec
in Cabrillo format via on-line form at http://www.b4h.net/cabforms or
by email to ssphone@arrl.org or to November SS CW, ARRL, 225 Main St,
Newington, CT 06111.
North American Collegiate ARC Championship--Phone. This is a
competition based on Sweepstakes results between club stations at
institutions of higher education beyond the high school level. Clubs
enter Sweepstakes in any of the valid entry categories. Separate
champions will be determined for CW, Phone and Combined scores. For
more information: http://www.collegiatechampionship.org/
LZ DX Contest--CW/SSB, sponsored by the Bulgarian Federation of Radio
Amateurs from 1200Z Nov 18 - 1200Z Nov 19. Frequencies: 80-10-meters
with 10-minute mode change rule. Categories: SOAB (CW, Phone, Mixed),
SOAB-QRP Mixed, SOSB-Mixed, MS-Mixed, SWL. Exchange: RST + ITU zone
or 2-letter LZ district. QSO Points: same continent--1 pt, different
cont--3 pts, LZ station--10 pts. Score: QSO points x ITU zones + LZ
districts counted once per band. For more information:
www.qsl.net/lz1fw/contest. Logs due 30 days after the contest to
lzdxc@yahoo.com or BFRA, PO Box 830, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria.
RSGB 1.8 MHz Contest--CW, from 2100 Nov 18 - 0100Z Nov 19. (See Feb
QST, p 99) For more information: www.rsgbhfcc.org. Logs due 16 days
after the contest to 2nd160.logs@rsgbhfcc.org or RSGB--G3UFY, 77
Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 7AF, England.
PSK63 QSO Party--sponsored by the European PSK Club from 0000Z to
2400Z Nov 19. Frequencies: 160-10 meters, near PSK calling
frequencies. Categories: SOAB, 100 watts max, spotting assistance
allowed. Exchange: EPC member number or signal report plus serial
number. QSO Points: EPC members--5 pts, otherwise 1 pt. Score: QSO
Points x EPC numbers from all bands. For more information:
www.eu.srars.org. Logs due 30 days after the contest to
eudx@scotham.net.
CQ WW DX Contest--CW, sponsored by CQ Magazine from 0000Z Nov 25 to
2400Z Nov 26. Frequencies: 160-10 meters. Categories: SOAB and SOSB
(HP >100W, LP, QRP <5W), MS, M2 (new), MM. MS have 10 minute rule.
Exchange RS(T) and CQ zone. QSO Points: same cont--1 pts (NA stations
count 2 pts), diff cont--3 pts. Stations in the same country may be
worked for zone credit only. Score: QSO points x CQ Zones + DXCC
entities and WAE countries counted once per band. For more
information: http://www.cqww.com/. Logs due Jan 15 for CW to
cw@cqww.com or to CQ Magazine, 25 Newbridge Rd, Hicksville, NY 11801.
VHF+ CONTESTS
No VHF+ contests are scheduled.
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LOG DUE DATES - 15 NOVEMBER TO 28 NOVEMBER 2006
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November 15 - Arkansas QSO Party, email logs to: k1ark@arrl.net,
diskettes and paper logs to: Bill Smith, K1ARK, 3032 Strawberry
Drive, Fayetteville, AR 72703, USA. Find rules at:
http://zinfoserv.com/arkan/docs/2006arkqsorules.pdf
November 15 - California QSO Party, email logs to: logs@cqp.org,
Upload log at: http://logs.cqp.org/, diskettes and paper logs to:
NCCC, c/o Kevin Rowett, WB6S, 21906 Monte Ct, Cupertino, CA 95014,
USA. Find rules at: http://www.cqp.org/Rules.html
November 15 - Pennsylvania QSO Party, email logs to:
paqsolog@nittany-arc.net, diskettes and paper logs to: PA QSO Party
2006, c/o NARC, PO Box 614, State College, PA 16804-0614, USA. Find
rules at: http://www.nittany-arc.net/06_rules.pdf
November 15 - Makrothen RTTY Contest, email logs to:
tmc-rtty@arcor.de, diskettes and paper logs to: (none). Find rules
at:
http://home.arcor.de/waldemar.kebsch/The_Makrothen_Contest/TMC_Rules.html
November 18 - 50 MHz Fall Sprint, email logs to: wa4njp@aol.com,
diskettes and paper logs to: Ray Rector WA4NJP, 3493 Holly Springs
Rd, Gillsville, GA 30534, USA. Find rules at:
http://svhfs.org/fall_sprint_rules.htm
November 20 - Worked All Germany Contest, email logs to:
wag@dxhf.darc.de, diskettes and paper logs to: WAG Contestmanager,
Klaus Voigt, DL1DTL, Am Jaegerpark 75, D-01099 Dresden, Germany. Find
rules at: http://www.darc.de/referate/dx/xedcgr.htm
November 22 - Illinois QSO Party, email logs to: n9jf@arrl.net,
diskettes and paper logs to: WIARC, PO Box 3132, Quincy IL
62305-3132, USA. Find rules at: http://www.w9awe.org/ILQP%20Rules.pdf
November 22 - ARCI Fall QSO Party, email logs to:
contest@qrparci.org, diskettes and paper logs to: ARCI Fall QSO
Party, c/o Jeff Hetherington, VA3JFF, 139 Elizabeth St W, Welland,
Ontario L3C 4M3, Canada. Find rules at:
http://www.qrparci.org/component/option,com_extcalendar/Itemid,/extmode,view/extid,41/lang,en/
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
The Contester's Rate Sheet wishes to acknowledge information from the
following sources:
WA7BNM's Contest Calendar Web page -
<http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal>
SM3CER's Web site - <http://www.sk3bg.se/contest>
ARRL members may subscribe at no cost by editing their Member Data
Page as described at <http://www.arrl.org/contests/rate-sheet>.
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